Al Wasl, SLC spikers win AWST openers

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Al Wasl volleyball team scores an easy win against Oman's Sahm Club 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 26-24) in the Arab Women Sports Tournament. Al Wasl dominated the game from the beginning, presenting excellent skills and concentration, which was rewarded by winning the first set. In the second set, Sahm players tried to regain the momentum, but failed against the quicker and more concentrated Wasl players, who managed again to win the set

The third set saw the Omanis fight back to scores at 24-24, before a Al Wasl's coach Yusrya Shajee managed to reorganise the team in a time-out, leading them to win the game 26-24

Shajee praised her players' performance, saying that their experience helped them from the beginning, while it was concentration and determination that helped them overcome the Omani momentum in the last round

Omani Coach Yakub Al Mugbali said that the lack of experience held his players back. Although their enthusiasm almost won them the third round, except that the difference in experience with Al Wasl was difficult to overcome. Al Mugbali highlighted that his team is still young, and most its players have never played internationally. He expressed that AWST is an excellent opportunity for them to gain more experience and interact with talented players. In the same context, Sharjah Ladies Club team won their first game against Yemen's Al Fatayat 3-0 (25-7, 25-19, 25-10). SLC's fitness played a major role in this win, especially with the successful blocking defense from the beginning

The Yemini players tried to regroup in the second round, reaching 19-25, but the difference in fitness and experience allowed SLC to maintain the top score till the end. Commenting on the match, Sharjah Ladies Club coach Asma Al Rabeai said that the game was rather easy for her players. She highlighted that this was a good start for SLC, as the team is determined to win the gold at AWST 2014, which is achievable, thanks to the experienced and enthusiastic set of players

On his part, Imad Aldeen Nawar, Al Fatayat coach, said that this loss is not the end of his players' ambitions. They are determined to achieve better in the coming matches, and occupy a good position in the tournament. He thanked his players for their efforts, pointing out that the difference in experience helped SLC to win, despite the good efforts exerted by the Yemeni players, especially in the second round. In basketball, Bani Yas won a difficult game against Qatar Ladies Club

The match was highly competitive, with the 'Sky Blue' prevailing in its first quarter 15-13, before the Qatari team regrouped and ended the second quarter successfully scoring 28-31

The two teams kept alternating the high score in the third quarter, not succeeding in increasing the difference in favor of any of them. However, the Qataris managed to end this quarter with a one-point difference only 50-49

In the last quarter, competition reached a new level, with the two teams reciprocating points, leaving the suspense sparked until the very last minute, where Bani Yas managed to flip the score, winning the game 74-72

In another game, Al Mokawloon of Jordan won against the Bahraini Muharreq 75-66

In table tennis, Kuwait's Al Fatat team gained a difficult win against Yemen Al Fatayat 3-2 in the teams' tournament. The first game saw the pro player You Evi win against Sina Khamis in a unilateral game 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, and 11-1), while Al Fatayat's pro Elina Abamova won against Mariam Suleiman 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-6)

Kuwaiti player Manwa Majid won her game against the Yemeni Marwa Hamoud 3-0 (11-6, 11-1, 15-13), while the fourth game saw Elina Abamova of Al Fatayat winning against You Evi 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 14-12)